Motorist charged with cyclist’s death ri Dftnri in th

Press, 1 March 1984, Page 12

Motorist charged with cyclist’s death ri Dftnri in th

A youth whose car stalled after it collided with and fatally injured a cyclist told his passengers to get out of the.car and to push it away from the accident scene, a District Court jury was told yesterday. The trial is held before Judge Pain. Mitchell Stuart Hooper, aged 17, a machinist, is facing a charge of causing the death of Antonia May Dillon by carelessly using a car while travelling at an excessive speed. Yesterday morning Hooper pleaded

guilty to two other charges of failing to stop when, as a result of an accident, another person was injured; and failing to ascertain injury.

The Court was told that Hooper and two friends were driving around Christchurch on the evening of October 18 last year. Near the intersection of Papanui Road and Bealey Avenue, Hooper’s car hit some empty drums which were marking works on the road, and soon after collided with Mrs Dillon. Mrs Dillon, the

mother of six children, died at the scene of the accident from multiple injuries. For the prosecution. Mr D. J. L. Saunders said that it was not likely to be disputed that Hooper was the driver of the car or that the accident was the cause of Mrs Dillon’s death. “The area of dispute is likely to be whether he is guilty of careless use of a motor-vehicle while in excess of the speed limit,” Mr Saunders said. Because Hooper had changed his plea on the two lesser charges to guilty, Mr Saunders said it was not necessary to bring in all the witnesses from the earlier hearing. Written evidence from five of these was read to the Court. The evidence of Mr T. Dillon, the husband of the deceased, of identifying his wife’s body was read, as was the evidence of the ambulance driver who attended the scene of the accident. ■ Evidence from Dr J. R. Elliot, a house surgeon at Christchurch Hospital, was read, indicating he had found Mrs Dillon to be dead on arrival at the hospital. The evidence of Dr P. R. Kelleher, a pathologist, indicated that Mrs Dillon had died from multiple injuries.

An account of damage to the cycle and to Hooper’s car was read in the evidence of an automotive surveyor. Written evidence from an Auckland woman who had been staying at the Camelot Motel on the night of the accident was read. She said that she had heard noises and looked out of a window to see three people pushing a car around the corner. They looked as though they were in a state of panic, she said.

Mr C. J. Ryan, a drainage labourer, told the Court of the placing of the drums in the road and the lighting on them.

Miss C. J. Hunter said that she had been cycling

along Papanui Road in the opposite direction to Mrs Dillon at about the time of the accident. She had not seen the accident but looked up when she heard the impact. She saw Hooper’s car coming towards her, she jumped off her bicycle and pulled it on to the footpath. When she saw Mrs Dillon she ran into a flat to telephone for help. When she returned Hooper's car had gone. Garv Byrnes, aged 17, and his brother Dean, aged 19, gave evidence of being in the car with Hooper at the time of the collision. Gary Byrnes said that he had warned Hooper to slow down as they approached the intersection because he knew the drums were there. “I think we hit one of the bins and we swerved from side to side. The window smashed and I put my head down,” he said. The car then stopped and Hooper had told the two other occupants to get out and push. “He said he thought he’d killed a cyclist,” Gary Byrnes said. “He said ‘you’d better not tell anyone about this’.”

Gary Byrnes said that they had gone home and the two brothers had returned the next morning to talk to Hooper. They had persuaded him to turn himself in and had taken him to the police station.

Mr L. M. Pearce said he had been waiting in his motor-vehicle at the intersection of Victoria Street and Salisbury Street when a car had come up behind him at approximately twice the sj)eed limit and had overtaken him through a red light. He followed the car towards Papanui Road as the lights changed and saw the tail lights swerving as the car went through the intersection. As he came into the intersection he saw Mrs Dillon’s cycle and her body lying in the road. There was no sign of the car that earlier had overtaken him. The trial will continue today.